A van carrying two people traversing the South Luzon Expressway suddenly plunged 20 ft. into a residential area in Muntinlupa on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
The incident happened at about 6 a.m. along the Putatan, Muntinlupa portion of SLEX.
The victims were identified as Edwin Bersano, driver, and his passenger Herson Baloncio, who are both from Canlalay in Biñan, Laguna. They were brought to the Ospital ng Muntinlupa (OsMun) for treatment.
Bersano complained of pain in the ribs while Herson suffered scratches on his left leg. They were released after treatment.
Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon was on his way to the Muntinlupa City hall when he received a report about the accident and immediately went to the site of the accident.
Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection-Muntinlupa, SLEX, and Muntinlupa City Department of Disaster Resilience and Management responded to the accident.
Biazon said no one was seriously hurt in the accident. He added that one house below was hit by the van but the impact did not result in major damage.
“Mabuti at walang taong nandun sa spot na yun at yung bahay ay hindi tinamaan ng malakas. Maaring nagiba yun kung sakali. May mga bata pa naman na nakatira dun (Thank goodness that no one was on the spot and the house was only slightly hit. It could have been destroyed otherwise. There are children who live there),” said the mayor.
He said the accident showed the dangers of the current SLEX widening project. He said SLEX should change the orange plastic barriers to concrete barriers to prevent vehicles from falling into the residential area.
“Isasangguni natin ito sa tollway management (We will consult with the tollway management on this),” he said.
Biazon also emphasized the importance of wearing a seat belt, saying that the van passengers could have suffered severe injuries if they were not wearing the device.